Perfection Trial
by Xyzantylzethyrioses
Summary: [Multiple non-AU settings; some Rebellion] Homura has been a time traveler for many years. Kyubey says the time-lines will only get worse, but Homura's only option is to try to prove the alien wrong. She gets a little extra guidance, and lets her friends back into her life... eventually. Will she finally succeed? Spoiler warning, yes, of course. But it's all about the journey.
1. Prologue: Lucid…

Chapter 1 – Prologue: Lucid...

 **Author's Note:**

Useless statistics: Published May 14, 2015. Word count: 2695.

While reading, watching, and/or listening to a story, be it TV, anime, a movie, a video game plot, a book, a fan fiction, or whatever other type of story you'd want me to experience, I always think, "How could things go better? What are some plot holes that could be mended? What are some things that could be added that the original creator overlooked?" The thing is, the PMMM multiverse allows for second chances. That is, most fan fictions _could_ fit into canon because of the forgotten time-lines. This story is meant to act as an extension, reconstruction, and metaphysical analysis of canon as well as an entertaining fairly original piece for the readers.

This story starts off at the end of Rebellion. So please don't be stupid enough to complain about having things spoiled even though I shouldn't need to put an explicit warning. Few fan fictions _don't_ have spoilers anyway... Meh, fine, I'm too kind to not do it, so here you go: _**~*!SPOILER WARNING!*~**_ , for most (if not all) of the twelve episodes and all three movies. Bold, italics, underlines, stars, and several other things. Hopefully even complainers aren't blind enough to miss this.

I likely won't ever read the manga (access reasons), but this story will still use select elements from those stories. If any of those characters seem OOC, sorry, thank you, and you're welcome. I don't know any better. If any of the original PMMM characters seem OOC, sorry, thank you, and you're welcome. I think they certainly _could_ be that way, the time-lines allow for some variety, and I'll definitely have events shape their changes. Stop complaining. Please? =P

I'm planning on having ONE important OC. It won't be brokenly overpowered. One of my pet peeves is broken-OP OCs gallivanting into the universe to steal all the glory. If they're OP, then they'd best have their own problems to deal with, because solving the canon conflict by injecting a super-powered new character is never fulfilling to readers. I stand by this statement absolutely.

Some formatting: Thoughts will be in italics, although so will stressed words. It should be easy enough to tell the difference though. Projected thoughts (telepathy) will be in quoted italics. Past dialogue being recalled will be in single-quoted italics. Footnote clarifications will be pointed out by an underlined number in parentheses directly following the potentially-confusing word or phrase. If you have any other formatting questions, don't hesitate to ask.

This is my first published story, but I expect it won't be terrible. I'm currently a university student and I've been proficient at writing relative to my peers for most of my life, though I have never written a complete story for fun. We'll see how this goes. Also, I feel that I'm good enough at the English language to earn the right to twist it and poke fun at it to my heart's content. So I'll do that. I also like using simple language. "I know big words too", but those don't ever add much to any form of communication, so I follow the precept of "Keep it simple, stupid". Some phail (1) grammar and such is on purpose. But feel free to give any corrections or suggestions, including story suggestions: I can write in one-shots of past time-lines if I feel they can be relevant to the main plot. On another note, I like horrendous puns that are so bad that nobody could ever pretend they're funny, and ones that are puns of puns so far off on a tangent that you can't tell what they're supposed to mean. Maybe I'll have mercy and footnote any of those. Or maybe they won't exist since they really go into dialogue best, and none of these characters are me. If there are any hideously bad puns, they'll be referenced by an underlined number in parentheses, then explained in the author's note at the end of the chapter. I suppose I'll also footnote a synopsis of the chapter in case some people can't tell what's going on and it's a part you should understand (not just foreshadowing or building suspense). Most of the fourth wall breakage will be in Author's Notes, though I reserve the right to occasionally inject thoughts into the story as well when it's interrupting something useless.

I don't feel the need to make chapters a certain length, and I scorn those who claim things like 5000+ or 10000+ words per chapter or it can't be considered a full chapter. Not because long chapters are bad or short chapters are good. Simply, the chapter is done when there's a logical break in the plot, or in point of view, or when there's an opportunity for overpowdered (2) suspense/cliffhangers. I write as much as I want, partition it into logical chapters, and send them off when I feel the need. I won't have a rule about how many chapters/how many words posted per X time interval.

Rated T for now, though really the first chapter could be K. Once I get characters like Kyoko involved, or once there are action scenes, it'll almost certainly be T. I might change it to M depending on how character interactions flow, but I will not include any lemon. That stuff is left to your dirty imaginations. Though I don't plan on even mentioning any such scenes. But this story is going to go a lot of directions.

Bah, everyone has to do the stupid disclaimers. I do not own any part of the Puella Magi Madoka Magica / Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica franchise, or any plot events or characters or terminology or any of that. I just have this story, which uses elements from PMMM. If I did own it, I wouldn't change any plot or character details, but this would be a sequel to Rebellion. I don't own anything.

Thank you for reading, and without further Much Ado About Nothing, I present chapter one, or the prologue, of Perfection Trial, "Lucid…": 

* * *

Madoka was finally here for her. They could finally be together. So much time spent trying to save Madoka, then so much time spent living her life in a way that would make Madokami proud, and it could all end happily now.

Madoka reached toward her soul gem, the blackened, ready-to-break crystal that was the true manifestation of her existence. All she had to do is sit back and wait a few second for the Law of Cycles to release her from her enslavement as a Magical Girl. She could be with Madoka. But...

There were so many things Homura regretted. So many failures. So many incomplete promises. So many lies. So little to be proud of. So many... necessary evils. So many sins.

She had gone through all those time-lines, and not once had she succeeded in truly saving Madoka. Her wish, made all those years ago, was to be strong to be able to protect Madoka, but the pink girl took that opportunity away from Homura by saving the world herself, leaving it in the process. Then Homura was ridiculed in Madoka's new world, where she was the only one other than a toddler who knew Madoka ever existed. She fought the wraiths for Madoka, but she didn't last long. Soon enough, she became fed up with this Madoka-less world and despaired. Before she was taken away by the Law of Cycles, she was imprisoned in her own mind by Kyubey. The little white demonic alien creature thought he could bring back witches. She was his little guinea pig. But now she was free of that prison, the trippiest world she'd yet experienced. And she faced judgment. Madoka was going to purify her soul gem and take her away... rest in peace.

 _I'm not ready yet._

Madoka's serene, kind face quickly twisted into a conformation of surprise. Homura held the deity by the hands. Enough of Madoka giving, and giving, and giving! Homura wanted Madoka to be happy, but the little pink girl, turned deity, no longer had a life of her own. It was Homura's turn to give.

Homura's soul gem was already completely full of taint, but it was somehow filling even more: With love. The multicolored dots, much brighter than the regular dismal color of corruption and despair, filled the entire gem, then went past the gem, expanding outward. The colorful cloud covered the little stone table Homura's body was laying on. Covered the friends surrounding her and Madoka. Expanded over nearby towns and cities. Grew to surround the whole Earth. The whole solar system. The whole galaxy. The whole cluster. The whole whatever-the-heck-comes-next-I'm-not-that-well-versed-in-astronomy. The whole universe. It was changing, being remade according to Homura's wishes. Being remade to give Madoka a chance to have happiness of her own.

Madoka was torn. Literally. Madoka duplicated and split in two. Madokami was obligated to leave to help other Magical Girls, but Madoka couldn't leave, held there by Homura. Good. It was just as Homura planned. She finally found a way, in what would have been her last moments, to get Madoka back as a person.

Homura's soul gem was filled with love, not despair. ' _Love is to will the good of another for their benefit._ ' She had learned that once upon a time, long long ago, in a time she hardly remembered after all those time loops. Madoka was supposed to be a girl, not a god. So Homura would let her be a girl. Madoka's wish was still intact; Madokami had gone off to put other Magical Girls to rest. And now Homura's wish was complete too. Madoka was saved, thanks to her.

But she knew people wouldn't see it that way. To them, she stole a god's powers, when in fact she had just separated the god from the mortal. To be against a god... she was a demon. Homura bit into her soul gem, shattering it and reforming it to be shaped like a purple crown. Demon Homura. Lucifer, the devil... Homucifer? Akuma, the evil spirit... Homura Akuma? Homucifer Akuma. Any of those, all of those would do. She was used to wearing masks. She'd been doing it for years. What was one more mask? She had a part to play – distract the world so Madoka could be herself.

The world was restructured, returning to a state similar to that of the tenth day (3a) of the time loops. Now Madoka was the transfer student and Homura was the nurse's aide.

That night, Homura was sitting at the edge of her favorite cliff watching over the city. She had her favorite Incubator next to her, Kyubey. But Kyubey wasn't exactly his cheerful evil self. Homura had given him the capacity to feel emotion, then filled him with plenty of despair and other negative feelings. She enjoyed torturing the critter. Mentally, as well as physically and spiritually. He was being a good Incubator right now, sitting loyally at her side. Because if he tried to leave, Homura would torture him some more. _Poor guy. ...Just kidding._ He was the source of all of Homura's problems. He deserved it.

Everything was going so well. Those who deserved evil were receiving it from Homura. Those who deserved good were allowed it by Homura. Those who annoyed Homura but were still her friends got a mix of the two. The world was her stage, being manipulated into what she thought of as perfection.

She suddenly felt like dancing. What better way to rejoice in one's "evil" domination of the universe? Well, maybe she had gone a wee bit mad, too. Minor details. So she danced around the chair, danced around the pitiful form of our favorite Incubator, danced to the edge of the cliff, danced off the edge of the cliff, and... woke up. 

* * *

She was in her Puella Magi outfit, one leg trapped under the rubble of a building. There was blood in her left eye, but her right eye saw Madoka looking down at her with a pitying expression.

"Homura-chan... You knew you couldn't do it alone... We can do it, Homura-chan. I can help. I wish..."

 _No, no, no, no, nonononono, no no, no!_ "No, Madoka! Don't do it!"

Homura's trembling right arm pulled out a pistol from within her shield. She spotted her favorite Incubator sitting right beside Madoka, eagerly waggling his ear-tentacles around so he could start the process as soon as possible. She aimed with her right eye, the left still blurry with blood. She shot.

Madoka was still talking, completely ignoring Homura's words and actions. "... I wish I had the power to erase witches before they're born. Every single witch, from the past, present, and future. Everywhere."

The bullet missed.

Homura screamed.

She grabbed one edge of her shield and turned it counterclockwise, the sand now ready to fall once more. The gear-filled tunnel opened beneath her, and she fell in. 

* * *

She woke up in that same hospital bed. She looked at the calendar. All the numbers were crossed off up to March 16th (3b).

 _That wish... I couldn't allow it. I know what would happen. Because that same wish... It was all just a horrible..._

 _... Dream. ( 4)_

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

(1) phail = fail. Please be smart enough to have realized that. But I'm starting a tradition, so I included this one. ...Tangent: ph = f, so p = fh. For example, fhotaedeauze are my favorite brown edible legumes.

(2) overpowdered = overpowered. Almost impossible to not understand, as the brain's automatic dyslexia-like correction should gloss over it no problem. But I promised to explain this crap.

(3) tenth day; March 16th: Homura's first day of time loops is accepted to be either March or May 16th, and I prefer the March theory. I'm assuming the first day Homura wakes up, fills out applications, and sends them, then leaves the hospital to go to her apartment. Walpurgisnacht arrives on midnight GMT of Walpurgisnacht, April 30th going into May 1st, a German holiday(?) celebrating a gathering of witches and the birthday of Satanism... even though the name Walpurgis comes from Saint Walpurga, a saint from the eighth century. And it's theorized (the theory I agree with) that Walpurgisnacht (witch) is a conglomeration of witches and/or familiars, because Walpurgisnacht's direct namesake is a gathering of witches. Anyway, tenth day because the first day is the 16th and the first day of school for Homura is the 25th.

(4) … Dream: Finishes the title of the chapter. Lucid Dream. This system will probably be used in other chapters as well, though I make no promises to do it for every chapter. It kind of reminds me of the PMMM episodes being named for a significant quote in them.

I don't hate Rebellion at all. I just felt writing the story with this relation to Rebellion would work out the best.

 **Chapter Synopsis.** Starts with Rebellion's end. Homura goes demon, steals part of Madoka, rewrites the universe. Then I have her "wake up", because it fits my needs to include Rebellion in the story but still be able to go back to the time-lines So, it turns out that was a nasty dream she had while knocked unconscious fighting Walpurgis. Not only was that dream's result an unfavorable outcome, but the time-line she was in seemed like it was going to end up exactly the same as in her dream. So she reset.


	2. Despair, …

Chapter 2: Despair, ...

 **Author's Note:**

Useless statistics: Published May 14, 2015. Word count: 6829.

Let's get right into it. As far as I know, I don't need to say anything else right now. Oh, I introduce the main OC. Don't worry, it doesn't take center stage of the whole plot. Ah, also, this chapter involves suicide. Probably makes it T, though maybe M. I don't really know the difference other than that M includes sexual content and extremely graphic gore, which are not in this chapter. To be fair, the actual PMMM is rated R, which is sort of the video version of M, so it's hard to write a PMMM story that includes canon events without going T or M. Input would be useful. Input other than about the rating is also welcome. I accept criticism, consider "corrections", and occasionally like praise, though really my emotional condition has very little to do with what anyone says about something I wrote or said.

* * *

 _A lucid dream. The most realistic one I've ever had. Are those events really possible? Madoka, a god?_

 _Kyubey... could he be right? All I'm doing is making things worse? Time-lines, stringing strands of fate to Madoka. Higher stakes. I'm bound to fail. Every time-line will be worse than the last. Is it possible for me to win?_

 _How long have I been wasting my life like this?_ Homura felt the underside of her shield. (Yes, it has an underside. Yes, there's a pocket dimension there. But she can use it as a physical object as well.) There were... 104 uniform scratch marks. She took out a knife and made that 105. _One-hundred four time-lines down the drain. Most people only get one. I get 105, potentially more, and I still don't get anywhere. I'm so useless... Madoka, if only I could save you. I've tried and tried and tried. I really have. Nothing seems to work._

 _Is failure my only option? Yes. This is my fate. To fail. To ...lose Madoka._ Hot tears began streaming down Homura's cheeks ( 1). _How can I end it? I used to think that I could just continue trying until I succeeded. What if I have a zero percent chance? Then... My only option... Is to end everything... Myself._

Homura pulled out a pistol – the same one she had just used to try to delay Kyubey – funny how her pocket dimension kept things through resets, but this was no funny business – and held it to her head. She gently gripped the trigger. _I can end it._ She squeezed a bit harder. And harder.

 _What the h**l?_ She sighed in frustration. _Need stupid bullets. Way to go, genius._ She felt even worse now. Couldn't even kill herself right. She'd almost done it so many other times before. But this time it was going to happen.

For once, luck was on her side. She found proper ammunition, loaded the gun, and fired.

The bullet grazed her scalp. It hurt like heck, but she essentially missed. At point blank. Against a stationary target. A target whose location she instinctively knew every moment of her life. Bullet number three...

She scrounged around in her pocked dimension and found a bullet. Too big. Another? Too small. Another? That one looked like the right caliber. She loaded the gun, put the muzzle to her temple, made sure it was not pointed at an angle, and fired.

Nothing happened. _…Seriously. A dud. F**k you, world._

She managed to find another appropriate bullet. _"Oh God, please just let me die already."_ Homura loaded the pistol, held it to her temple, made sure the gun was level, and pulled the trigger.

The short, crude prayer was answered. Her temple caved in. The bullet traveled toward the other side of her brain, ripping a pleasantly painful trail through... er, not really. Brains don't feel themselves. _Should've shot myself somewhere more painful,_ she managed to think in the split second that the bullet was was on its merry journey to the other side of her skull. The other temple bulged outward, and a larger section of her skull fragmented off along with it. Her brains splattered against... no, they didn't. The bullet shattered the window, so her brains splattered against thin air and fell toward the parking lot. A bone fragment and a chunk of brain landed in a newly released patient's vanilla, strawberry, and coconut ice cream. Why was the ice cream so crunchy, why did it have a particularly squishy chunk, and why was some of the strawberry juice salty?

Homura collapsed onto the hospital bed. Her mental lights went out.

* * *

Two days later...

Wait, what? Two days later? Yeah, not dead. The story must go on. It doesn't end like that. This isn't some afterlife AU story.

She had a horrible headache. She didn't want to open her eyes. And her back was sore. Where was she? Reluctantly, her eyes opened, but that didn't help anything; she could still see only blackness.

 _F**k. I'm not dead. Sh*t. Soul gem. Stupid invincibility. D*mn, I should've remembered about shooting myself... from that dream ( 2). The soul gem..._ She wasn't wearing her ring, and she was not in her Magical Girl outfit. She searched as much of the coffin as she could get to, but it was nowhere to be found. Little did she know, it was in a little box at the bottom of her coffin. Certainly closer than 100 meters, but out of reach... or was it?

Luckily, that was a problem that could be fixed (3). Homura transformed, then withdrew her favorite pistol. But there were zero bullets. Zero. She put away the pistol and scrounged around some more. She tried to pull out a rocket launcher, but it wouldn't fit into the coffin. She tried to pull out a rifle, but that was too long and she couldn't get a good enough angle to make room for it. And... there was only one pistol. The one that was out of ammo. She sighed.

Homura pulled out a knife, then released her outfit, holding her soul gem out in crystal form. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't break it. She continued to swear like a sailor, usually out of character for her, but these were not usual times. When suicide isn't working out, one's mental state is anything but normal. She was too weak, the knife was not magical, and she didn't have enough room to move her arms properly to get a good solid swing. So our favorite depressed time traveler did just that. No, not get a good swing. She transformed and inverted the shield (4).

* * *

Things were not going Homura's way. She made the 106th tick mark under her shield, but she couldn't access the pocket dimension anymore. She started this time-line with hardly any sand, and after transforming once and pulling out the knife, she didn't have any left (5). Even though she had more space than in the coffin, she couldn't break the soul gem with the knife. So she inverted the shield again. Luckily, that much was possible with no sand left...

* * *

Tick mark number 107. She was angry, depressed, and tired, so after one feeble failed attempt to smash her life crystal she collapsed face-down on the bed and fell asleep.

Homura woke up to a sight that until now was foreign to her time-hopping experience. She sat up to see standing in her hospital room a tall, thin young man with tangled neck-length black hair, wearing a black garment that looked like a cross between a button-up shirt and a full-length dress (6). If she had bothered to look more closely, she would've noticed the garment had 33 buttons and the collar had a white strip showing at the front.

"Ah, you're awake. Where did you get the knife?" the man asked casually.

Homura sat up, but said nothing. The man certainly did not seem like a nurse, so why was he here?

He gave her a bittersweet smile. "I hope you weren't going to do anything with that." A short pause. "There's always hope. And no matter what you think, there's always someone watching your back. Is there anything you need to get off your chest?"

A few sudden, unwanted tears leaked out of Homura's eyes for no apparent reason. _Why is someone trying to cheer me up... when all I want to do is die? He's wrong. I have no hope. No-one could possibly understand or help me._ She was pulled out of her thoughts a sudden dip in the mattress followed by the feeling of a pair of arms wrapping around her shoulders ( _Get away!_ ) and something small, cold, and a little sharp being pressed into her right hand. She looked down to see a cross on a string of beads; a rosary. She'd seen those so long ago, before the time loops, when she went to that private Catholic school in Tokyo. But she always tried her hardest to avoid paying attention in religion class. It was, however, a little reassuring to know that now someone wanted her to find comfort, even though she didn't want it.

"I had a bad dream is all."

"You know, you remind me of my sister. You seem older than you look, and a little distant from the world. But you're not sick anymore, right? So you should be happy. You'll be able to leave soon, and there's a full life out there for you to live," the man whispered.

"You don't know anything," retorted Homura, pushing the arms off of her. "I can't help my friends... No matter how hard I try, I can't make them safe."

"Akemi Homura-san," started the black-clad man. She flinched. "Oh, your name is on the door, you know. Homura,"-she flinched a bit again, as the man was being absurdly familiar, skipping honorifics-"I'm sure your friends are lucky to have someone so dedicated to them. But maybe you need to relax a bit; take a break. Even priests have vacations. In fact, I'm off duty right now, but I felt a calling to stop by the hospital to visit some patients. Just take things easy, okay? I'm sure your friends are fine. They'll be happy to have you back when you're discharged, but you can't help anyone when you're so worried."

"... Thanks." _I'm so useless. But maybe, maybe, there might be a chance I can save Madoka?_

The minute hand ticked twice, then the priest stood up and walked toward the door.

 _Good. Glad get rid of that guy. I can get to business. But... Well... He kind of did cheer me up. A little. Well, I don't want to die anymore. That's something, I guess._ "Wait," said Homura. The target of her request, who had just set foot out the door, turned around. "What's your name?" _Why in the world did I just ask that? That's not me. Can't he just get out of my life already? I don't need anyone._

He smiled. "Gyudel Zyxas (7). If you ever need someone to talk to, I work in Mitakihara in case you're in the area. My phone number and email are on the Saint Walpurga Parish website (8)."

 _It'd be hard for me to forget that place's name..._ Homura smiled wryly. "I'm in the process of transferring to Mitakihara Middle School. I suppose I'll be around."

Zyxas smiled contently at her and waved with two fingers as he walked toward the door. "I'll probably see you later then. Hope you feel better." Then he was gone, his footsteps echoing farther and farther down the hallway.

She looked down at the rosary in her hands and wondered what to do with the thing. It was given as a peace offering; a token of friendship and consolation. _Couldn't hurt anything_. She decided to throw it into the shield's pocket dimension. Gone. If he ever found her and asked about it, it would be there, but for now it wouldn't worry her.

 _Normal people, trying to help me. What am I coming to? It's been so long since I started all these Puella Magi adventures. One hundred seven marks. Forty-six days each, March 16th to May 1st. Maybe about ten percent of them ended early. And it seemed like two years of hunting Demons instead of Witches in that dream... does that count? Around fourteen years... I've experienced almost thirty years of life, but I still look like a kid and still go to school. Wonder how that works? Guess I shouldn't worry about it now. But half of my time on this planet has been spent working for Kyubey. No, working for my wish. No, not even that. Working to help Madoka. I hardly remember what life was like, before. If I ever manage to save Madoka for real, could I even try to live a normal life again?_

A nurse came into the room. "Akemi-san, here are the forms you needed for that application. Ah, I'm so happy that you'll get to go back to school. Must be nice for you to be able to get out of here."

"Thanks." Verbose as always, Homura.

"Good luck with everything, Akemi-san." The nurse left.

Homura picked up the book she'd been reading... well, not in the _near_ past tense, as that was twelve years ago already. She finished it in her fourth time-line and it was now just a decoration that greeted her every time she turned back the clock. And it also acted as a hard writing surface when she didn't want to sit at the desk. She picked up the book, _The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers_ ( _I guess even back then I wasn't into the dramatic or romantic happy stories most girls teenage girls enjoy..._ ), grabbed the purple mechanical pencil on the desk, and took those along with the applications out of her hospital room and toward the small prayer room in her hallway. Just before reaching the door, she saw Zyxas leaving another patient's room. He waved at her, so she waved back. Homura entered the small, peaceful chamber and got to work on the applications.

Homura finished the papers and went back to her hospital room. She was surprised to see only the numbers up to 15 crossed off on the calendar – looked like she was a day earlier than usual. _I guess that's why I never met Zyxas-shinpu before ( 9). Plenty changes between time-lines, but only starting the day I arrive. Ugh, but it also means I have to stay in this room for an extra day (10). I almost forgot what being in a hospital is like since I always get to leave right away._

Afternoon faded into night, and the same nurse brought her supper (11). Once the nurse and the supper were gone (in different ways, of course), Homura sneaked out of the hospital using a time stop. She went to the wealthy sector of town, assassinated a certain Mikuni Oriko (12) with a sniper rifle, flipped her hair, and returned to the hospital to sleep.

* * *

Homura woke up.

This time, it was not in a new time-line or new world. Just the next day. Still attempt number 107. She crossed off the '15' on the calendar ( _First time I've had to touch_ that _number in years. I don't even use it in math class._ ), leaving the underlined, circled, starred, polka-dotted, overlined, and 3D-ified '16' as the next open number: Move-out day.

Homura walked over to the corner of the room to the right of the door, where there was a wooden chest on the floor for her personal items. She never had much at the beginning of a time-line.

Her mother died from a particularly deadly flu strain, similar to the H1N1 pandemic of 2009, when Homura was seven (13), and her father, whom she never met because he abandoned Mrs. Akemi before Homura was born, was murdered during a gang-related incident in her third month in the hospital. Because of the absence of parents, she was raised in an orphanage run by nuns, so there wasn't much to call hers by the time she was admitted to the hospital. Living in the orphanage was actually a fairly pleasant experience, at least according to what Homura could remember of it almost twenty years later. There was enough food and space for all the children, they had respectable clothing, they were treated well for the most part, and occasionally they'd be able to have something nice like a toy or book. Although she lived well enough, she didn't feel especially close to anyone. She usually avoided interaction with the other kids since she was clumsy in both speech and action, and instead filled her time outside of school with books.

But then she had to go to the hospital after an episode of heart failure. The doctors said that it was caused by Rheumatic Heart Disease, which can develop after a strep throat infection if the bacteria worm their way over to the heart and cause damage. Although RHD usually occurs after several _streptococcus pyogenes_ infections, Homura was the unlucky type who got it after only one, and she was even treated promptly for the illness. In the hospital, she had to have her heart valves repaired, but she was still very weak for two months ( 14). Then her heart failed again, but she was lucky enough to get a transplant. It took another two months for her to recover enough to be functional, but she stayed in the hospital for several more weeks so they could figure out where she could go. In her third month, her anonymous father died. In an astonishing change of heart, he willed his ill-gotten wealth, including his completely unused extra house, to Homura.

Back in the present, our favorite twenty-eight-year-old fourteen-year-old took off her purple hospital pajamas and changed into a black skirt and lavender shirt. _Need to get uniforms... as always. Some things I wish I didn't have to do every loop._ Homura grabbed her meager belongings and headed to the front desk, signed some release papers, politely accepted the goodbyes of the doctors and nurses who had worked with her, and headed off toward her Homu-home. She took all the best shortcuts, of course. Doing the same thing over a hundred times makes you pretty good at it, after all.

Everything was going normally for a March 16th according to Homura. She arrived at her home without event and unlocked the door as usual, revealing the poorly lit entrance hallway that proceeded directly forward from the door. The building was strange. It was built into the pointy corner of a Y intersection, so it had to follow that shape, but the rest of it was unusual as well. It had Gothic architecture, atypical for a building in Mitakihara, and was colored blank gray and white. It had few and small windows; it was overall quite dreary, just the way she liked it – that way she kept her mind on important things, like Madoka, rather than home, self, fun, and aesthetics. Well, she _did_ like the dreary aesthetics, actually; not only did she dislike flashiness, but she truly did like blacks, grays, and blandness. The small house was all mostly one room, like a living room of a normal house. It had a small circular table in the center surrounded by plain, squishy, arc-shaped bench-like seats arranged in concentric circles around the table, and many screens hung from the ceiling. There was also a huge bladed pendulum that swung several feet above the table. Her War Room. Or planning area. Or living room. Whatever you wanted to call it. It was the War Room to Homura, though, because that's what she used it for in these past twelve years: Planning her war against the evil invaders of the city. In the front corner of the massive room was a small kitchen area with a marble island table with two stools, several counters, a stove, a microwave, a fridge, a black leather sofa, and several cupboards. In the rear corner of the room adjacent to the kitchen was a single doorway that led upstairs. The ground floor covered what would normally be two floors. The second floor had a single bedroom, an office/study room, a bathroom, a spare room, and a staircase leading up to the third floor, the attic. There wasn't anything of note in the attic, unless you considered military-grade weapon assembly equipment noteworthy. She figured she may as well make some custom weapons of her own a few dozen time-lines ago, so the attic was her base of operations for that task.

Homura dumped her small bundle of clothing and books on her bed, then went shopping for clothes and groceries. I won't bore you with the details or bore me with trying to write them. Nothing important happens. After shopping, she killed a Kyubey as per usual. She returned home empty-handed, but only because she had a more convenient transportation system than carrying things. Homura extracted the groceries and clothes from her shield's pocket dimension and put them away in their proper locations. Now she had nine days to burn before school started.

Usually this is when she would plan for the next fight against Walpurgisnacht, since the fight was fresh in her mind at the beginning of a loop, but because of that _long_ dream it wasn't all too pressing. Besides, the only things she did wrong were watching the explosion which allowed the witch to get in a sneak attack, and not bringing enough firepower. After that planning, she would tie up loose ends hanging around at the beginning of a time-line, like clothes and Oriko. _I don't understand why she's been a threat in every single time-line since the first she appeared in, unless I neutralize her early. Can't she ever just ignore me?_

Then she would plan her overall month-long defense of Madoka. Who to ignore, who not to ignore, how best to stalk Madoka ( _I'm doing a good thing for her! She should appreciate it! It's not creepy if it's for her own good!_ ), where and when to be in order to prevent her from contracting. _As far as I'm concerned, the previous loop was perfectly fine. Well, I guess I should show up a little later against Charlotte_ _so Tomoe-san do_ _esn't stop me from saving her. She's such an idiot. And I could force-fee_ _d Miki-san a_ _grief seed. She's such an idiot. ...They're all idiots. All I have to work with is a bunch of idiots._

This time she would look a bit farther back.

 _The first time-line I didn't know anything compared to now. I can't help it that Madoka died. My wish, though. 'I wish I could meet Miss Kaname all over again. But this time, instead of her protecting me, I want to be strong enough to protect her!' There must have been a better option. Maybe 'Bring my new friends back to life strong enough to kill this witch.' I don't know. All I have to work with is the present and the future. Learn from my mistakes, fix those that can be fixed, work around those that can't._

 _The second time-line I didn't know how to fight. I was worthless baggage. Should all be fixed now... Madoka killed Walpurgis all on her own somehow. How strong could she have been back then, with only one past to increase her karma? But Madoka contracting is not an option._

 _The third time-line Miki Sayaka started her trend of contracting. I still didn't know how to fight as a member of a team. Miki-san hated me for exploding things in her face... I guess that makes sense. I probably should have transported her away from the witch when doing that. No reason why it wouldn't work for me to fight with her now, other than that she'll hate me no matter what. Madoka made me promise to keep trying until she didn't have to be a witch, and I firmly intend to fulfill that promise._

 _The fourth time-line I grew a brain and balls. Figuratively. Ew. I fixed certain health issues better than the doctors ever did. I was better at fighting and learned to get weaponry. Things worked out fairly well, but I couldn't kill Walpurgis alone back then, so Madoka contracted again. And back then she was the strongest witch of all history... Luckily she hasn't contracted since maybe time-line thirty, but even when she didn't I've never survived Walpurgisnacht myself..._

 _The twentieth time-line Mikuni Oriko started her trend of contracting, pounding some major thorns into my side. Madoka ended up dead. I kill the seer girl every time now before she contracts. I don't see how it would work any other way._

 _Things kept slowly improving, bit by bit. By loop 104, I was so close to winning. I probably just need to empty a few governments' arsenals. The tiny stash I had hardly scratched Mrs. Walpy. But then Madoka contracted. 'I wish I had the power to erase witches before they're born. Every single witch, from the past, present, and future. Everywhere.' What the heck was she thinking? She didn't have to sacrifice herself like that. Just scrap the "me" stuff and it might have worked out okay. But as it was, she was going to disappear, like in the dream, and I would be forced to rip her from the heavens in order to save her from her own unnecessary sacrifice. But maybe that would work out; I didn't see much past becoming the devil._ Homura shook her head. _...If I can avoid that, I should._

 _I've considered getting reinforcements before, and tried to use Sakura Kyoko in #104, but she died early. I don't know how I could make that work. I've stocked up on weaponry, but I've never accumulated enough. I could try more. I guess I'll give it a try. The worst that could happen is still losing Madoka and losing to Walpurgisnacht... No, the worst thing that could happen is my death. Any of these time-lines, I could die and it would all be over. Madoka would be doomed. All my efforts would end up only helping Kyubey accumulate more energy. Failure is not an option._

 _Weapons. This time, more weapons._

* * *

This time, Homura didn't stalk Madoka quite as overtly. She didn't show herself much at all, instead stalking safely in the shadows out of sight, but she still kept both eyes on Madoka as much as necessary to stop Kyubey's usual recruitment attempts. Mami, Sayaka, and Kyoko died like usual and Madoka was a nervous, confused wreck, but Homura didn't need anyone's help. She was confident. Not just a false mask of bravery like in time-line 104 – this time she knew she had the resources to put down the witch that haunted her dreams every night for fourteen years.

The time traveler had spent several hours every day stealing weapons from all kinds of governments all over the world. Most of the rest of her time was spent traveling to various cities to collect dozens of grief seeds, averaging two and a half per night. With her massive stock of magical and military might, had she wanted to, she could've waged war against every nation at once and came out victorious.

April 30th into May 1st. It was the day of Walpurgisnacht. Akemi Homura stood on a sidewalk overlooking the turbulent channel that connected to the ocean. The storm was already raging. The wind tore banners off of poles, knocked over trees, threw debris through windows (15), and even flipped a few vehicles. Rain was pouring down like during a tropical storm. Every layer of Homura's clothing was completely saturated, causing her to wonder whether clothes were actually helping her at all. _It's nice in time-lines when Walpurgis is kinder with the weather. But I can't let the weather bring down renowned time traveler Akemi Homura. ...Well, I guess I'm not that famous. Nobody knows what I do._ Her head, which had been drooping at the slight self-deprecation, snapped back up to watch the storm. _Focus, Akemi!_

Storm sirens blared in the background, barely audible over the rushing of the wind and the pounding of the rain. Street and building lights were going out all over from damaged power systems. The bridge Homura was standing on was undulating slightly. Nobody was outside except for one teenage girl.

The sun was starting to rise, barely staining the sky red wherever it could reach. Red in the morning, sailor's warning. But then the storm's clouds filled in the small holes the light had been peeking through. The storm was getting worse. Its cause was getting closer.

Finally, a still section of the atmosphere manifested. A large, glowing, circular magical rune appeared in the empty space, concentric rings twisting in opposite directions as the rune expanded. Black wispy shadows arced toward the rune from all over the city. Images that looked like cardboard cutouts of circus animals appeared from the fog and marched outward, away from the rune, heralding the coming of their master. Then, as if stepping out of a portal, the massive form of Walpurgisnacht slowly materialized, coming forward out of the rune. Its large gear was spinning, humming with power. The face was smiling evilly, looking ready to unleash destruction and despair on the city. How it could bear flying upside-down, Homura would never know, nor did she wish to know. All she needed to know was that that creature was a co-source of most of her suffering, and that it needed to die, preferably very soon.

 _I'm confident. I will win. This witch will have the same fate as my despair..._

 _... Gone!_

* * *

 **Author's Note...s...:**

(1) cheeks: I am somewhat annoyed by how many writers and how often writers use the word "checks" instead of cheeks. Huge difference. That's all. Rant off.

(2) from that dream: Homura's fight against Mami (in Rebellion), in which she shoots herself in the head to trick Mami into letting the ribbon be cut so she could freeze time without Mami tagging along. Yeah, it doesn't do anything remotely close to killing her.

(3) could be fixed: I don't believe there was ever a case of a Magical Girl transforming without being in close proximity with her soul gem. Key example: The first time Mami transforms, she is holding her soul gem in crystal form. But there wasn't an example of a Magical Girl being unable to transform because of not holding the soul gem either. I don't know which to assume is right, but the second option fits the plot. If I'm wrong, please correct me.

(4) Probably confusing as heck. Let me explain. "Our favorite depressed time traveler did just that. No, not get a good swing. She transformed and inverted the shield." Read the underlined parts, skipping the stuff between. Should help. I considered changing the wording, but I like it best this way.

(5) didn't have any sand left: I know I'm probably stretching it by claiming she can reset the time-line without all the sand emptying to the bottom, but none of the sand stuff is explained in the anime or movies. As far as I know it's only from an interview. So I took a bit of creative license and pretended that it would work like that. Also, I'm assuming that the pocket dimension is time-related. She steals a gun and puts it in the shield, it stops existing in the time-line. She pulls the gun out, it teleports from when it stopped existing to the present. Something like that.

(6) A cassock. Often worn by priests, though it has mostly fallen out of use within the last half century.

(7) Gyudel Zyxas: Last comma first, just fitting it to Japanese formatting. I use him as a character in other stories that I don't have finished, and in games. He's usually a seemingly contradictory paladin who wears black armor.

(8) Saint Walpurga Parish: She's a saint, and the namesake of Walpurgisnacht, both the real event/day and in turn also the PMMM witch. Since churches are often named after saints, and Mitakihara is an imaginary city, I figured I'd name the church there after her. There are actually churches named after her, so there are actual websites if you'd look it up, but this is IMAGINARY.

(9) shinpu: Probably a lesser-known honorific. Is used for priests. Literally means "God-father". Found it on Wikipedia when looking at proper use of other honorifics. She uses his first name in that same thought because usually priests go by first name, not last, especially with the Father title (in this case, -shinpu honorific).

(10) have to sleep in my hospital bed: To avoid the nonexistent authorities hunting her down. That would be a minor setback.

(11) supper: I don't know much about Japanese food and don't want to go about researching it. I'm not really feeling like researching much, just using what I already know. Sorry for the wonderfully specific descriptions. I guess it moves the story along though, avoiding the extra padding.

(12) Oriko: Main character of Puella Magi Oriko Magica, if you didn't know that. Spoilers, though I'm not overly familiar with the story. She gets foresight and tries to kill Madoka to prevent the rise of Kriemhild Gretchen, Madoka's witch, which would otherwise destroy the world. Oriko dies while fighting against Homura and several others, but kills Madoka and Homura resets. So I figured Homura would kill or otherwise deal with Oriko in every loop from then on in order to preemptively eliminate a major headache. If I have any details wrong, you could either correct me or just take it as a variation.

(13) I get to say whatever I want about parents and most of other back story topics. Live with it.

(14) I have no idea whether two months is a reasonable number, but I'll just assume it is. If not, we'll assume that Homura had an unusual case and we'll be happy with that. Or you can correct me. Silly microbiology class made me decide to pick something that was actually wrong with Homura. Sorry if it's not exactly accurate.

(15) threw debris through windows: Why the **** is most of the surface area of the walls in that storm shelter composed of glass? P.S., Junko Kaname is an idiot. "The firefighters will handle it." Sure. We all believe you.

I don't like using foul language, but when the characters already use it I have to include it. And yes, even though it's there, I'm still manually filtering it. It's my problem, not yours. Am I just immature? Not really. I'm an adult. I've heard it all thousands of times and I'm fine with hearing it. But I don't want to say any of it. Because I can. Does it matter? Not really. But it's what I'm doing. I'd personally rather say something along the lines of, "I am disappointed and enraged because the current circumstances have a substantial negative impact on my present interests," but that takes too long so I usually resort to simply not saying any sort of expletive.

I figured that she doesn't have to fix her eyes every single time-line, so I omitted that. In the second time-line, her first as a Puella Magi, she was still not athletically adept, so I don't think she suddenly became amazing just by being a Magical Girl. But later on, like in the main time-line in the show or first and second movies, she's more than fit. So I think that her body, not just her soul gem and mind, goes back in time. Otherwise she'd still be weaksauce from the hospital by the time she gets to Phy Ed class. That also means that Puella Magi might not physically age, although it's possible that Homura does get an age reset but not an entire body reset, and those who traverse time normally do grow normally. Well, I guess Mami sort of encourages that viewpoint. She is 15-ish and was a Magical Girl for two years, and I don't know of any 13-year-olds that look like that *coughcoughchestcough*.

I really feel the makers of Madoka Magica did an excellent job selecting boss fight music. The dream fight in episode 10 makes me cry. The Oktavia spawning music in episodes 8 and 9 makes me cry. The Mami fight music makes me smile. The episode 11 Walpurgisnacht fight makes me cry. Like every time. I don't usually cry much; it's just that the show is so well done that I follow along.

The reason for the "spiritual" tag appears. Be not afraid, this story should be perfectly intelligible as a story for its own sake. There will be logical tie-ins for the spiritual aspects added to the story. One of the major reasons for taking this story the direction I am is because episode 12 and Rebellion have a weird theogenesis system, so I wondered how things would turn out if more conventional religion was introduced to their world. Another main catalyst for this questioning was the scenes of "past Magical Girls" depicting Sainte Jeanne d'Arc. The PMMM creators were attempting to cover a religion-related figure with their fictitious magic system, so I decided to see what religion stuff I could add into their magic system. The first impulse for me to "re-write" PMMM was the conversation in the middle of episode 1: (Random NPC #44324:) "What school did you go to before coming to this one?" (Homura:) "I went to a private Catholic school in Tokyo." **Spoiler warning for my story** : Alternate soul gem cleansing, tie-in with demonology, and more hope.

Hm. Looks like about a third of the words in the first two chapters are AN content, not story. Sorry about that. There's more to be said at the beginning, though, introductions and all.

 **Chapter Synopsis.** Homura arrives in a new time-line and is depressed from phailing so hard and with such probability (seemingly 100%). Now, normally she's fine with phailing, but she just had a dream in which she sort-of-succeeded, so she went over the edge. She tries to commit suicide several times and phails hilariously (hopefully it's actually a little humorous... otherwise, sorry, I phiaq hard). She rapidly burns this first time-line and the next because she's an idiot, then goes into yet another time-line and falls unconscious. Homura is a day earlier than usual. She meets a priest (OC named Zyxas) who somehow cheers her up, she does her transfer applications, assassinates Oriko, then calls it a day and hits the hay because she can't leave the hospital 'till the 16th. Next day is I-get-to-leave day. She goes home and prepares a bit. Her big plan is to get lots and lots of weapons. We skip forward to the end of the time-line, when she is just about to face off with Walpy again. Not so dramatic, not so intense cliffhanger. It was a good cutoff.

Don't know when I'll update next. Probably a few weeks.


	3. The Only Way to Win…

Chapter 3: The Only Way to Win…

 **Author's Note:**

Useless statistics: Published June 25, 2015. Word count: 906.

Six weeks. I usually consider "a few" to be three or four. Oh well. You still get to read if you want to. I'm sure some updates will be extremely closely spaced, while others will take longer, like those with my current schedule that includes about two free hours a day including not enough sleep. Anyway, let's try to not be personal. Here's a chapter for youse, and I suppose for me. Short chapter, broken of logically rather than at some length cutoff, though it's published at the same time as another chapter anyway.

* * *

Walpurgisnacht was here, but Homura's mind was not any less present than the witch's matter. Her preparations in this time-line made her armaments in the 104th (1) look like an unwealthy child's small collection of action figures and plastic weapons.

She didn't transform; instead, a small remote control was removed from the time traveler's physical pocket. The small black box had a single large, red button set into its center. Homura held the device at her side and casually pressed the button.

Several things happened at once.

Hundreds of invisible drone aircraft came out of stealth and unleashed thousands of bullets and bombs upon the witch.

The ground shook, heralding the launching of dozens of stowed away missiles from the city's surrounding countryside and hidden submarines in the nearby ocean – including three small nuclear missiles.

Carefully located explosives went off, felling dozens of buildings as though they were trees directly toward Walpurgisnacht and anywhere the witch would likely be able to reach by the time the collapses finished.

Thousands of portals opened around Homura, emptying her pocket dimension's artillery at the witch in an overly timely fashion.

Sirens were heard in the distance.

All because of the expertly programmed big red button.

After a few moments, several more things happened: Thousands of bullets and bombs impacted the witch, buildings fell directly upon her, and the missiles arrived and exploded, blinding any unfortunate onlookers. In addition, the entire Central Mitakihara Fire Department arrived on the scene, and Walpurgisnacht laughed.

Catching the sound of the witch announcing its continued life, Homura immediately transformed and froze time. She sidestepped a lazy black-and-rainbow tendril of magic, then followed the beam toward the witch. It was entirely unscathed.

 _HOW? That wiped out a large portion of the city, yet the witch is still alive and happy? Does.. D*mn. I should have seen it earlier. Way earlier. The witch can't be harmed by matter, only by magic. I was never, ever able to defeat Walpurgisnacht on my own, because my magic is all utility, no attacks._

 _So maybe instead of an arsenal, I need an army? But who would trust me that Walpurgisnacht is coming, and who would waste their efforts by attacking it?_

 _I... I will find a way. Later. Not this time..._

She flew a safe distance away from the witch, to the top of a building, and released the time stop, then rotated the shield, opening the tunnel of time behind her and beginning to step forward. But for some reason, she felt the urge not to walk through the tunnel quite yet.

"Hey. Looks like I was right," came a voice. "You are a Magical Girl, Akemi-san (2)." She whirled around in the direction of the voice to find a human figure standing on the far side of the building. It – no, he – was a thin man clad in a single black garment, holding a book and a crucifix. _He's –_ "Gyudel Zyxas. Remember me? Demonic activity was on the rise, so I've been watching lately. Turns out something arrived, and you were trying to stop it. Seems like you wish to leave now, but remember, Akemi, I can help you with anything. You shall not be disappointed if you remember me."

The man removed a Rosary from one of his pockets, holding it in his hand as he waved goodbye. At the same time, Homura no longer felt paralyzed (3) and stepped fully into the tunnel of time.

* * *

108.

Homura sat up in the hospital bed.

 _So, explosions are futile. Maybe the only way to win_ …

 _Is with friends?_

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

(1) 104th: The time loop number I have given to the original main story, in case you've forgotten.

(2) "You are a Magical Girl": He has his reasons, probably fairly obvious: He knows what a Magical Girl is. It'll clearly be explained later.

(3) no longer felt paralyzed: She was not magically or physically paralyzed, just had a mental block. Fate.

Sorry. Didn't know how to drag out a cluttered but very brief battle, and by my rules it would be a horrendous idea to not end the chapter there.

 **Chapter Synopsis.** Homura doesn't need magic in her battle. Instead, she had a coolio Big Red Button that unleashes a huge arsenal upon the witch. And... nothing happens. Always seemed to me that Walpurgisnacht was impervious to non-magical attacks, so that happens. Homura abandons the impossible battle and rewinds again after accidentally and very briefly meeting up with Zyxas again.

Next update: This chapter is just a logical break, not a publishing break. The next chapter is already up.


	4. Setting Off on the Unfamiliar Foot

Chapter 4: Setting Off on the Unfamiliar Foot

 **Author's Note:**

Useless statistics: Published June 25 2015. Word count: 4811.

Yeah, continuing from the previous chapter. Loop 108.

This story has three major facets: Standard Madoka Magica events, setting, and conflicts, and "fixing" the original with elements of friendship and my own personal injections. This chapter will be one of the heaviest on "my own personal injections"; if you can't make it to the end of the chapter without wanting to quit (outside of for taking a break or doing something else you wanted to do), this may not be the story for you, although after this chapter things will be less "extreme", so you may be alright with the rest. It's all just words...

* * *

 _But one step at a time. What now? Start things normally, I suppose. Is it a day early again, or...?_

Glancing at the wall, Homura saw that the fifteen was already crossed off on the hospital room's calendar. So it was move-out day.

She changed out of her pajamas and picked up her couple of possessions, then headed toward the front desk to check out. Between Homura's hospital room and the front desk, there were pictures of flowers and trees littering the walls. _Trying to give people hope. Only for the easily influenced. Hmph._ The nurses and receptionist smiled at her cheerfully, contributing to the falsely happy atmosphere. With as few words as possible, Homura left the hospital and headed on the fast route home.

Both the hospital and Homu-home were on the border of the residential and business districts of town, but the residential area encircled the business district and the two buildings in question were on opposite sides of the roughly circular border (1), so it was not a short walk for the girl. Along the way were plenty of warehouses, both full and empty, sprawling factories, towering office buildings, and shops, plus a few government buildings. Several other people were milling about this sunny late morning, those who didn't have to attend to work or school. Homura recognized Kaname Junko walking into a large office building; the woman had some moderately high position at the business at which she worked, so she would occasionally go in later than a typical starting time. Homura had learned that small fact in loop 54, when she was going to visit Madoka one morning but was dissuaded by the presence of Junko, who was still home at the time.

Now the time traveler was passing by a very up-to-date warehouse: One of the military weaponry buildings she often raided. It was three stories tall, but only had one floor with several catwalks higher up. The security was top-notch, but she'd long ago mastered the art of entering the building. All the pass-codes, all the security devices, all the guards' patrol routes. The entire city was rather familiar to Homura now; she'd been patrolling it for years. Luckily, patrolling was not on her mind, as there were no witches around at the time since they were almost never active in the late morning and afternoon.

The next building over was unremarkable. It was just a storage facility for some nearby factory that made living room furniture. She knew because several times she had to kill a witch there. Actually, wasn't that usually on the night of March 16th? Homura lifted her left hand and saw that the ring was _already_ glowing. _But witches are never active in the middle of the day. This one is supposed to appear tonight. What's going on?_ The ring pulsed an even brighter purple, and Homura found that she had unconsciously walked herself over to a door to the warehouse, which also happened to be the _already-opened_ entrance to Sofetta's labyrinth. _Already open? Is Mami in there? Whatever is happening, this is not how this battle usually comes about._

Homura jumped through the circular entrance to the witch's labyrinth, which looked like a circular rug composed of several concentric rings of varying red fabrics. Inside, it looked like a twisted version of the furniture warehouse itself (2). Couches, tables, televisions, lamps, cushions, reclining chairs, fireplaces, and window curtains floated around her in neat, orderly patterns, although some lamps and tables had arms and legs – the minions.

The time traveler donned her Magical Girl garments and weapon and headed into the labyrinth. It was shaped mostly like the warehouse itself, with many rows, each containing one type of merchandise, but the labyrinth moved the rows to eliminate the central aisle. Instead, Homura had to weave her way through the rows, finding the gap in each one in order to continue onward. _It's not the same pattern as last time, either. Maybe the workers move things around today, so it's different now than in a few hours._ In any case, Homura was able to make significant progress through the labyrinth. She didn't have any weapons to speak of, so Homura made do with just whacking the objects with her shield and making the stupid creatures run into the decorations or each other to break themselves.

She finally arrived at the center of the labyrinth. Sofetta popped into her view: A huge humanoid golem made with sofas for body parts, two for each arm and leg and one for each foot or hand, plus six arranged in a rectangle to form its torso and three stacked end-to-end in a triangle for the head. But just as soon as she saw it, the witch began to disappear. But this witch seemed to evaporate, coming off of itself in wispy clouds that vanished after traveling several meters. Most witches bounced around, spewing blood-like juices, then came to a halt and shriveled into vanishing puddles of goo. Soon enough, the labyrinth also disappeared, revealing the much more orderly warehouse.

And two people.

The first was female and young – small enough that she was likely a couple of years younger than Homura – and she was unfamiliar; not any magical girl Homura had seen before. She had mid-back length blue hair, quite tangled but with several thin braids amid the mess, and the bangs were swept to the right across her forehead and came spiraling down over her left shoulder. Her face was unreasonably pale and looked rather bored and expressionless, but it was the unimpressed, comfortable type of bored, not the lazy, zero brain function type of bored. She wore a knee-length black trench coat, although the material looked like that of a dress rather than the usual tacky material, and it did not look very insulating. The garment had two columns of buttons down the front and a folded-over collar. The girl had no stockings or tights, but wore black boots that came a half of the way up her shins, secured by one zigzagging strap in a buckle.

The second was familiar. It was Gyudel Zyxas, wearing a cassock with black pants and shoes underneath, but this time he also had a gold and white stole (3) around his neck. He was holding an open book in his left hand and a silver crucifix in his extended right hand.

Homura's jaw dropped.

Not having the mental capacity to plan out what she was going to say, all the time traveler could get out of her mouth was an incredulous, "Zyxas-shinpu!? Here!?"

"Hm?" The man in question turned to face Homura, stowing his possessions in pockets on his garment. "Ah yes, I met you yesterday in the hospital, did I not? Akemi Homura was your name, was it?"

 _So now that this time-line once again started on the proper day, March 15th must be locked in as how it was last loop. But he couldn't possibly remember the end. That wouldn't make any sense._ "Yes, I am Akemi Homura. Pleased to meet you once again."

The third figure turned toward Zyxas and spoke now, in a nearly whispering voice, which Homura would later come to know as the girl's regular voice, not a tone used when _trying_ to be quiet. "She's a Mahou Shoujo ( 5), Zyxas."

"Yes, just as I thought yesterday when I met her. The ring gives it all away, does it not? But the confirmation is appreciated."

"What do you two know?" Homura was rather freaked out. Never before had she met someone other than a Magical Girl who knew anything at all about Magical Girls, let alone someone who could identify them in a somehow "confirming" way. The situation was quite a bit more than slightly strange.

"Ah, well Ayxzs (4) here has had quite the past with the Puella Magi. And she has shared with me that which she knows."

Homura took interest in Zyxas's mode of speaking. He never used contractions, and often used archaic language. He was never _in_ formal. It was like he was trying to be a medieval knight (6). Or was one. Homura's eyes briefly looked suspiciously at Zyxas with that thought, but then she turned back to the present. "What sort of 'past'?"

"This is not the place," the man returned. "Come."

Unexpectedly, the wild blue-haired girl, Ayxzs, led the way rather than Zyxas. Were they communicating telepathically? Homura felt some magic on Ayxzs, but it was weaker than that of any Magical Girl she'd ever met before. _How did she take down that witch? Even Sayaka, who has a magical signal ten times stronger than this, had trouble with some weaker witches. And why was Zyxas with her?_

They climbed onto stacks of boxed furniture when they got to an outer wall of the building, then Ayxzs opened an unsecured window on what would have been the second floor and jumped through. There was no _splat_ sound after a few seconds, and Zyxas soon followed. Homura headed toward the window as well, and saw Zyxas hit the street below and roll to save his legs from the fall. The time traveler just momentarily froze time an instant before hitting the ground and stepped down gently, then resumed time. _It was nice having those wings in that dream._ The three headed to the south, toward the residential area. But the hospital was in the southeast of the business district, and Homura's house was along the southwest border of the residential and industrial areas ( 1), so this location was less familiar to her. After a completely silent fifteen-minute walk with Ayxzs leading the way, the trio arrived at a small blue-walled house, one story with probably 600 square feet (56 square meters) of floor space.

On their way to the front door, Zyxas stooped and picked up a piece of wood laying in the yard, said something too quietly for Homura to understand, flicked some water on the object from within a small metal canister in one of his pockets, and threw it in the garbage upon entering the house, then tossed a lit match in the garbage can on top of the board (7). Homura stood awkwardly at the door watching the strange event – and the strange event that came next. Ayxzs entered the house and threw off the trench coat while standing right next to the doorway – and it turns out the garment was not being used as a jacket but as a primary layer of clothing – and put on a thin, nearly translucent black poncho-like shirt thing extending to her knees. _Whose house is this? And what's wrong with them?_

"Come in, Akemi-san," came Ayxzs's whispering voice. "You wanted to talk?"

Homura hesitantly entered the small building and headed to an armchair across from the sofa Ayxzs and Zyxas were already both sitting on. The blue-haired girl was laying down the long way across the sofa with her feet resting on Zyxas's legs, almost intimately.

Zyxas was the first to speak. "Judging by your profession, I expect you have questions for me. But I will save you some trouble and answer some of those potential queries. To start, you know I am a priest. This is my house. I live here with my sister Ayxzs. I am twenty-six years old and work not as a parish priest, but as an exorcist (8). Ayxzs is twenty-one and is a psychology major."

 _But she looks like she's my age. What the heck?_

"Older issue first, I suppose. Ayxzs led me to the witch, and I exorcised it. You see, witches are born out of the despair of a Magical Girl, but the final transformation is because demons are welcomed in to take complete control of her body. The demon creates extra matter for itself, expanding into the larger and unhumanlike witch form. Unfortunately, by that time the girl is so far gone that the best I can do is send off the evil spirits and allow the matter to dissipate and the girl to die, but it is far better than to allow such evil and suffering to continue. Magical Girls defeat witches by pulverizing their matter until the spirit has nothing to hold onto. But as an exorcist, I can go to the root of the problem and invoke the Lord to banish the demons directly. Witches are my specialty since I have Ayxzs to help me, although I still do 'regular' exorcisms and occasionally help out with regular priestly duties. And now, I suppose we can move on to your more recent question: Who is Ayxzs? She would probably be best for explaining that."

"My name is Gyudel Ayxzs, and I am twenty-one years old. I am a psychology major at Mitakihara South University. Our parents are dead, and people don't like me, so I live with Zyx. I was cursed to be how I am now. I am not a Puella Magi, but I am _very close_ ( 9) with one."

"She also neglected to mention that she has zero regard for typical social customs, and has studied niten ichi-ryu kenjutsu and aikido (10) since she was eight."

The only-slightly-younger girl just glared at Zyxas, although she still somehow looked bored and indifferent. Perhaps she didn't like people poking fun at her or spilling her irrelevant secrets.

Zyxas cleared his throat and once again spoke. "You know why we tell you these things, correct? I wish to help you, Akemi-san. You are a Mahou Shoujo, which are some of those I watch out for most often. Your curse is terrible – the detachment of your soul from its body and forced reliance on magic – and therefore I wish to do anything possible to help you girls."

"And what makes you think you could do anything to help me?" retorted Homura.

"I already have. You were spared the trouble of fighting off that witch a short while ago."

"If you know so much about Magical Girls, you know that we need grief seeds from witches to survive. I don't see who you're trying to help."

"While it is true that exorcism does not leave a grief seed, I am able to help with that predicament as well."

"Sure; of course. I definitely believe you. So tell me."

"Both magic and despair darken your soul housed in its gem, among other things, but it is possible to remove taint from one's soul by methods other than forcing the taint upon another soul by magic. I specialize in matters of the spirit."

Homura's right eyebrow shot up as she thought, _That's way too good to be true._ "How can I trust you, Gyudel-san?"

"Well," he inhaled, "there is no way that you can, yet. Which is why all I ask is a bit of your time and your opening the door to a possible friendship."

Homura slowly rose from the chair and leaned her body toward the door slightly, then, after a moment's thought, politely bowed to the room's other two occupants. "Thank you for the offer, but I must be going now. I'm awfully busy."

"My memory rarely lets go of anything, so please pardon by objection to your claim. You were in the hospital just yesterday, and were transferring into Mitakihara Middle School. You should have at least a week until you have anything significant to deal with. I am sure that you would be able to stay just for lunch."

"What do you want?"

"Only for you to give it a chance. I know you are interested in learning more about your situation, Akemi Homura, and only your unwillingness to do something new is preventing you from saying yes."

Homura flopped back down in the chair. "Fine. Go ahead and tell me what to do as if I was any random kid."

Zyxas only sighed in response, then headed to the kitchen.

"You'll like Zyx's cooking," remarked Ayxzs.

… _Jeez. It's been months or years since my last real home-cooked meal. But I'm not a horrible chef either. It's just that I never have the time to make anything more than just basics,_ thought Homura nostalgically.

The two sat in near silence for several minutes, Homura sitting stiff-backed in her chair and Ayxzs turned with her feet hanging over the back of the sofa. There was no conversation to be had; only the occasional clinking from the nearby room reminded them that sound waves did indeed still exist. Homura was still suspicious of the situation – free help to Magical Girls was unheard of – and she didn't have any topics to discuss at the time. Ayxzs, meanwhile, was even less verbose than Homura. Both girls shared the same dislike of small talk. After what seemed to be both an eternity and an instant, food-like odors wafted in from the kitchen and drew Homura out of her reverie.

The words, "Would anyone like food?" accompanied the pleasant smells into the living room, and the girls succumbed to the Siren's call (11).

The kitchen was a fairly small room with an electric stove, stainless steel refrigerator, black microwave, regular kitchen-style sink, and several cabinets, shaped in a U. In the left branch of the U relative to the entrance to the room was a counter-top that was open beneath and had two stools next to it. One plate, one bowl and spoon, and two cups sat next to the sink from breakfast, while the stove contained only a single piece cookware: A steaming pot of fish and ramen soup, clearly the source of the odor that brought Homura and Ayxzs into the room. Three bowls were already served. Two bowls were on the counter in from of the stools, while one Gyudel Zyxas was leaning against the counter next to the sink blowing on the third one.

Ayxzs unhesitatingly went over to the left stool and sat down on it, pressuring the black-haired guest to also sit down. Then the Gyudels said a short meal prayer and began eating.

Homura stared at her soup for several seconds before deciding that she was too far into this situation to do anything but eat, not that she wasn't hungry or didn't think it would be any good. Her first mouthful was a bit too hot, so she had to unflatteringly open her mouth slightly to let air in to cool it. Luckily, the Gyudels didn't seem to mind her manners and continued eating. She cooled her second chop-stick-full a bit before putting it into her mouth, and this time she could appreciate the flavors more. I really don't like trying to make mundane things seem like beautiful images, so I'll just say it was not "too" anything. Not too fishy, not too chunky, not too watery, not too salty, not too bland, and I can't think of anything else. I give up. Basically Zyxas is a good chef, but no gourmet pro.

Seeing no other choice given her opinion of the food and her status as a guest, the time traveler politely told the chef, "Thank you, Zyxas-shinpu, for the soup. It's the best I've had in quite a while."

"You are quite welcome, Akemi-san."

As Homura turned her head back toward her bowl, she saw that Ayxzs was already standing at the pot refilling her bowl. Homura chowed on her soup, the three once again sinking into their uncomfortale silence. When she was finished, Ayxzs had just finished her third helping. _What in the world is wrong with her? She eats like a morbidly obese adolescent male, yet she's smaller than me. And is actually an adult. Fdjslk $Jefmkslde145?$!_ ( 12).

Zyxas was apparently thinking something somewhat similar, but obviously more informed. He smirked and commented, "Ah, seems like today is another high metabolism day, Ayx."

She simply replied with a barely audible, "Yes."

"Excuse me," started Homura, feeling like even more of an intruder, "Thank you for the hospitality, but if there's nothing else, I'd like to be going now..."

Zyxas half-nodded, sharply tipping his head down once in confirmation. "Yes, that is fine. Thank you for your time. I am sure we will meet again."

Homura turned and bowed goodbye as she left the room, catching a glimpse of Zyxas rinsing out his bowl and Ayxzs digging into her fourth.

She left the house and turned to the west, heading to her home. _But my house doesn't really feel like home. Only I live there. No family; no friends. No meals cooked for me. Nothing a child would have. No decorations an adult would use. It's just empty. Until now, I haven't given myself any time to think about this. I've always been just planning in my_ base of operations _. That's what it is. Not a home. A base of operations._

 _I never had any reason to want it to be any different. But visiting those two reminded me of both sides. Sure, it didn't really feel like home there either, but there were some elements I've been missing for years. People. Food. Traditions._

 _I don't know if listening to Gyudel Zyxas would mean starting this time-line on the right foot or the wrong foot. All I know now is that I'm definitely setting off on the unfamiliar foot. It feels like now I have choices. Not just one goal. But I_ am _here for Madoka. I promised long ago the promise I will keep forever, that I will save her no matter what it takes._

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

(1) [Geography stuff]: Obviously fabricated according to what makes some amount of sense to me. As far as I know there is no canon map of Mitakihara. Don't like it? Suggest something. But seriously, who cares that much about a city's layout?

(2) Inside, it looked like a twisted version of the furniture warehouse itself: Labyrinths look similar to the real world around them if you've never noticed. It should be fairly easy to notice, though. Uh, yeah, that's all I wanted to say about that.

(3) stole: You can look up a picture if you need to. It looks a bit like a one-layer scarf, maybe a couple millimeters thick and a hand-width wide, going down most of the way to the floor on both sides. It is never looped around the neck, instead just draping once across the shoulders and neck and hanging down evenly on both sides. It is a symbol of sacramental authority.

(4) Ayxzs: Yes, it's an anagram of Zyxas, but it's not like most anagrams that are a pile of garbage that only exist to be an anagram. I like the set of letters, so I made two names out of them. This is no recent invention, either. Anyway... Ayxzs. Pronunciation is probably not obvious. It's "properly" (as defined by me...) a combination of three pronunciations, 'īks zĭs', 'īk zŭs' and 'ā gzĭs'. If you don't care, good for you. I won't force-feed you. As another note, Zyxas is pronounced 'zĭks ĭs', which is probably more obvious.

(5) Mahou Shoujo: The original Japanese term for Magical Girl, if you were not aware. For some reason it was translated to Puella Magi in the English version. The three terms are interchangeable, and I felt like using more of them to make things slightly less repetitive.

(6) [speaking style]: Technically they'd be speaking Japanese, and I have no idea how this would translate that way, but I'd assume there are plenty of archaic word and grammar patterns in Japanese as well. But this story is written in English for an English audience, so the references have to make sense for the language being used.

(7) [board thing]: A Ouija board. I've heard stories of Satanic objects popping up in priests' front yards, probably from haters somewhere. So yeah, that's what this paragraph was. Random demonic object pops up in the yard and Zyxas gets rid of it. Just an everyday casual occurrence.

(8) 26 years old: Fairly young for a priest, and exorcists usually have to have experience as priests before becoming exorcists, but Zyxas has always been a paladin-type character, so we'll say he has a bit of a specialization and got through the extra education early.

(9) _very close_ to a Magical Girl: Take that how you will for now. There's a full truth to the matter.

(10) niten ichi-ryu kenjutsu and aikido: Old traditional non-sport two-sword (katana and wakizashi) style of Japanese swordsmanship; and energy redirection Japanese martial art using throws, taking balance, and joint manipulation. Both of which I have some experience with, which is why I included those specifically.

(11) Siren's call: The mythological creature, Siren, makes a song noise thing that basically magically attracts listeners (traditionally male listeners). Basically, I'm saying they act as though they don't have a choice and are in no state to care that they don't have a choice. If you didn't need this footnote, thumbs up to you for mythology lore. But... not that obscure of a mythological reference. Anyway, onward! to more words.

(12) [random letters and such]: Don't try to pronounce that. But it expresses Homura's thoughts perfectly. On another note, yes, I implied that _sometimes_ she eats like a morbidly obese adolescent male, and other times she eats like an anorexic half-day-old canary chick.

In case you didn't notice, I added another OC. I couldn't bring myself to have Zyxas without Ayxzs. They're siblings in all my written or unwritten stories and as backstories in games. Also helped to justify a larger involvement for Zyxas in Homura's "quest". But he's not instantly solving any problems, so don't worry. Basically these character and metaphysics introductions are what I was warning about in the intro Author's Note. If you did not hate this chapter, you will likely not hate any of the rest of the story.

Once again, I remind you to refrain from considering my feelings when giving critiques. I do not care in the least what you say about me, only about what you say about my actions – in this case, writing – and then only to improve my work. Please point out parts that are unnecessary or contain errors.

 **Poll:** Planning ahead. I have some rough ideas, but what would readers like to see out of interactions between the OCs and the original five main characters? Leave in reviews or PMs. Don't know how else you'd contact me. If you don't care, don't answer, but if you actually do care and would be mad about certain developments, it's probably a good idea to voice your opinions.

 **Chapter Synopsis.** Homura arrives in Time Loop 108. She walks toward home and I actually give descriptions of stuff for once, but only so Homura can notice something _strange_ that has never occurred in any other time-line. There is a witch, which is defeated in a strange manner, then Homura goes home with OCs and learns about them. Not synopsis'ing the "learns about them". And Homura gets to wonder a little bit about "home", and about her Quest.

Next update: Who knows. If possible, in a week or two (one week is very unlikely). I can almost guarantee that I won't make youse wait two months, though.


	5. Breakfast and Banished Boredom

Chapter 5: Breakfast and Banished Boredom

 **Author's Note:**

Useless statistics: Published September 24, 2015. Word count: 4351.

Hahaha I guess I'm good at accidentally lying. "I can almost guarantee that I won't make youse wait two months, though." That would've been true if I didn't watch 4 more animes (Kill La Kill, Log Horizon, Guilty Crown, and RWBY), and read dozens of hours of fanfiction, probably upwards of another million words. I would've liked to have written and published this chapter a while ago, and some of you may wish that as well... But it didn't happen, so no use worrying about it now. As I said earlier, you get updates when you get them. At least I'm not really leaving cliffhangers, so the updates are rather self-contained. For now. The issue is that I left myself at such an un-cliffhanger that my creative juices didn't know where to start next. I hope this will be to your liking. In case you've forgotten what happened in previous chapters (I wouldn't blame you!), look at the synopses at the ends of the other chapters. That's mostly why they're there in the first place. Without further ado, Chapter 5: Breakfast and Banished Boredom.

* * *

March 17th. Homura got out of bed at 6:30 A.M. as usual, opened her bedroom door, and ran down the stairs to the kitchen area. She removed an extra-large carton of eggs from the fridge – she had bought groceries yesterday, and the eggs were cheaper in bulk than in the smaller cartons – then took out a frying pan from the stainless steel cabinet above the stove, put that on the stove and lit it. She took vegetable oil out from a cabinet on the opposite side of the stove from the fridge, pouring a little into the pan and then replacing the bottle in its home. Next was the egg. It cracked horribly, just leaving a giant crater on one face without actually opening. The girl's eyebrows scrunched up a bit and she looked angrily at her hard, white, round foe. _I should be better at this._ With another whack against the counter, the shell nearly exploded, fracturing into three pieces and dumping its payload into the warming pan. _Well, it IS opened now._ Homura grabbed a spatula from a ceramic holding cup next to the stove and popped the yolk. She slumped into a stool next to the stove, prepared do absolutely nothing while the egg cooked.

 _Let's see... school in just over a week._ _Witches to kill, incubators to stop, school supplies to acquire. It really is the easiest part. I suppose I should get the shopping out of the way first. Everything magical happens at night anyhow._

She flipped the egg.

 _Then I could go weapon hunting, or I could make some bombs upstairs, or plan..._

 _Plan what? Every plan I've made has failed. Maybe I could take some time off? It's not like I'll save Madoka by bashing my head against a wall. I can afford to step back for a while, study the wall, and find out how to simply walk around it rather than going through it. I have as much time as I want, as long as I'm reasonably careful with myself._

… _That's such a relaxing perspective. Why couldn't I have told myself that earlier?_

… _The egg is burning._ A smile grew across the girl's face. _… Just how I like it._

Homura turned off the stove and scooped the overly crispy egg onto a plate and dug in – it disappeared within two minutes – then drank a glass of grape juice and put everything away.

* * *

Our time traveler was walking along a street in downtown Mitakihara, carrying two bags of clothes in her right hand and a bag of notebooks, pencils, and folders in her left. Large department stores, many restaurants, and several smaller shops surrounded her, but none of them concerned Homura now since she had everything for which she came (1).

Alas, the previous sentence was meant to be contradicted. Homura's eyes remained pointed at a certain building for far longer than usual: A small, individually-owned book store. "Zeth's Knowledge Base: Books • Printing • Information • More" was painted on a wooden sign hanging in the front window, and the walls were made of wood rather than the typical glass or metal that so many modern buildings used.

 _I was thinking earlier that maybe I can afford to take some time off. It's been so long since I had time to read something of my choosing. This place looks promising._

Her feet now adjusted to point in the same direction as her eyes. The lights were on in the book store, but it didn't look like anyone was inside. Either the place had a bad reputation or most people ignored it because of the shoddy looks, but Homura was hoping for the latter. The solid wood door opened with a long creak. Just barely venturing inside, Homura looked around. The walls and floor space were filled with old bookshelves. There were only five bookcases filled with new, popular books, all at the front of the store. One was filled with romance novels, another with science fiction, one was filled halfway with fantasy books and halfway with comedies, and then two more shelves had various books that didn't fit into typical categories. Aside from these bookcases at the front, though, most of the shelves contained either old classics, books that looked suspiciously homemade, or really ancient-looking relics that probably belonged in museums or prestigious libraries. Maybe that was why the store was so unoccupied?

Behind the shelves upon shelves of weird books were a door labeled "Storage", another door labeled as a restroom, and a small office area with a desk, cash register, computer, and printer. There was nobody to be seen, but Homura decided she may as well look around anyway. She went to one of the shelves of really old books and picked one at random since none had any writing on the spine or cover to give any information about the contents. Luckily, the first page _did_ have a title: "GYUDEL". _What?_ thought Homura. _Why does that sound familiar? I've never seen this book before_ (2). Regardless, she only wanted to know what was here, not read just any book she happened to pick up. She put "GYUDEL" back on the shelf, then checked to the left of it, finding "Torah", "Quran", and "Holy Bible" – which all looked like they were first-millennium AD editions – and to the right were "AYXZS", "THE PROPHET WARS", and "TALES OF HAVYN I" (3). _Ayxzs? Is Zyxas-shinpu's sister named for a book? An extinct book nonetheless..._

The rest of the shelf, and the one next to it, had more extremely old books, but they were in languages Homura couldn't read. A couple looked like they might be relatively common languages, like German, French, Spanish, or Mandarin, but there were some in Arabic, Aramaic, and Sanskrit. The black-haired girl couldn't help wondering, _Does even the owner of this place know what some of these books are?_

Homura was almost done looking over her sixth rack of obscure tomes – it still didn't look like any of these would ever be desired by anyone – when her attention was caught by the sound of a door opening in the back of the shop. She could make out a pair of legs under a tower of boxes. The legs turned to the side so the person could reach the doorknob to close it, revealing a plain black-haired man wearing what could only be referred to as a magician's robe. The robe was composed of several thick layers of 9cm wide strips of black or gray cloth woven together in a confusing pattern, with several white strips crossed over top at three different angles. It stretched down to about 20cm above his ankles, where she could see black pants sticking out. The sleeves grew slightly wider toward their ends, but were not as open as some robes and did not stick out far enough to get in the way. He had a gold-etched tempered white-gold stick? – no, it definitely had gold spearheads on both ends; that was a real spear – attached to two clips on his back. Homura's jaw figuratively dropped and her eyebrows literally raised as she stared at him. _I've seen plenty of weird things in my life, especially in labyrinths, but that guy looks like he came out of a book himself, and he sure seems to be the shopkeeper. And a real spear? How can a civilian have that? It looks like it's solid gold, too!_

"Hi?" tested Homura. "Who... who are you?"

"Ah, sorry; I didn't know I had any customers in the store," apologized the man. His voice was rather bland. A medium pitch, a medium volume, neither gruff nor silky, and a respectable pace, neither drawing out syllables for sleazy emphasis nor shortening any sounds for brevity. "I am Xyzantylzethyrioses, but most people call me Zethyrius. Some even shorten it to Zeth, hence the name of my store."

He set his boxes down on the desk at the back of the room then turned to face her... revealing yet another really awkward trait. She noticed he was wearing a headband when he was facing away from her, but now the time traveler could see that the gold, black, gray, and white piece of cloth was actually a blindfold. Covering his eyes. He shouldn't be able to see. Yet he was looking straight at her.

"Is that somehow transparent from the inside, Xyzantyl... er, Zethyrius-san?"

His response was a simple, "No." But once Homura's neck was cranked so far to the side in confusion that it looked like it would snap off over her shoulder or make her do a side-flip, he elaborated. "I see without light. No, I'm not blind, and no, I'm not using any special gadgets or cheating. It's not just my other senses giving me the illusion of sight. I've simply always been able to see even with impediments. However, my eyes _are_ my visual sensory organs, so unfortunately I can only see where they're pointed."

Homura was almost more confused now. "So are you an alien? Or, … do you know about Magical Girls?" Generally, it was taboo to try to communicate to regular people about the mahou shoujo, but this certainly looked like the effects of magic. What else could it be?

"I am quite human; I wondered about that, too, so I got a DNA test, and, well, it's certainly human. I believe in Magical Girls and have read and heard stories about them, but I've never met one. Are you trying to tell me that you've actually seen one?"

"Sir," the time mage started, "I am one." Once again, this was generally taboo, but he probably somehow already knew that. Or he was just so psychotic that it wouldn't make a difference what he knew. She wasn't sure which theory she wished was true.

Judging by his calm smirk, it was probably the former. "I'm glad you didn't lie to me, Akemi Homura, adept of time magic and eighth-grade student (4). I won't ask you to transform." The man hummed pensively, then grabbed a novel off of a shelf and handed it to Homura. " _Advanced Spells, Concepts, and Tactics for the Intermediate Chronomancer._ That should be to your liking. Nonfiction, if you were wondering; there's always more to learn."

"How much is it, Zethyrius-san?"

"I'll give it to you for free."

"Why? Don't you run a business?"

"Yes, this is a business. The _less modern_ wares are usually intended for particular clients, although some are for sale to readers deemed worthy. I advise storing that in a _safe place_ for _future referencing_ ; you know what I'm saying. Of course, if there are any other books that you'd want for your own enjoyment, they will not be free, but I think you could get some _practical_ use out of this one. But that's all you want for now, correct?"

The girl nodded once in response.

"Have a wonderful day, Homura. And week. And _month_."

"Thank you," responded Homura. She stuffed the book in her school supplies bag, then turned and exited the shop and headed home without incident.

* * *

She headed upstairs and put away the new clothes and school supplies. The book had been calling to her during the entire journey back home, so she plucked "Advanced Spells, Concepts, and Tactics for the Intermediate Chronomancer" out of its bag and hopped onto her bed to read. The cover was blank, just like all those other old books, but the same title Zethyrius mentioned to her was written in its proper place on the page. She flipped the page.

 _Foreword_

 _We chronomancers know the importance of time. Whether able to slow it or not, it is still a precious resource, so this book is organized to allow for the best utility out of the least possible amount of time, although plenty detail is supplied when necessary._

Next was the table of contents; an amazingly specific, yet compact list of all topics and subtopics. It was arranged like a choose-your-own-adventure book, with the broadest categories first, pointing to page numbers for subtopics. One section of the book was about the mechanics of time manipulation, another was a comprehensive list of known time magics and guide to using them, one was about general and chronomancy-specific tips for combat, and the last section was simply called "limitations". The possibility of defeating Walpurgisnacht was a prime concern, so she turned to page 4, the combat table of contents. One of the first topics was "Know your weapons". Promising. Page 434.

 _Some of us are born with our powers, some are granted them by a deity of our universe, and others are given magic by a Bestower. These are not consistent between different universes (citation: I am a chronomancer and dimensionalist. -TQ.) In addition, the manifestation of our powers is different depending on the source and universe. Not all of us are formally known as chronomancers in our home universes, so your job description will also be useful in determining the nature of your abilities. Please consult the following table:_

Homura found "Bestower-granted / Magical Girl" in the table, which told her to turn ahead to page 442.

 _Magical Girls are granted powers based on their wishes, so not all powers are available to all Magical Girls. Consult the Magics List and use your discretion to rule out abilities you may not have. Aside from these limited magics, Magical Girls have a Soul Weapon which manifests itself upon transformation. This is almost always the key to accessing time magics for such people. Please consult the following chart to find the proper weapon section:_

"Clock, Shield, or Other Circular Object, page 521..." Homura mumbled to herself (5).

 _These objects are admittedly very defense and utility oriented. While not easy to fight with such a weapon, it is possible. Slowing, accelerating, or pausing time gives an opportunity to more safely use conventional weapons, such as swords or guns. Such time manipulations are usually performed by rotating the weapon. Clockwise relative to an observer from your front will increase your flow of time while leaving the rest of the world at normal thought and action speed. Counterclockwise slows time, although it is possible to reverse time in some capacity by turning it too far. Jamming the clockworks will locally pause time, which functions mostly like a perfect form of self-increasing. Some limitations of using conventional weapons in combination with time manipulation include: 1. Occasionally, enemies may be too heavily armored for material objects to cause damage, or may be magically protected in this manner; 2. The weapon itself may be inconvenient to acquire, transport, or use. In addition, time manipulation in general may be enough to deal with some encounters. Allies can share in the effects, greatly aiding them in carrying out their victory, or you may be able to avoid enemy encounters altogether by warping time to seem as though you teleported. The weapon is excellent for absorbing hits to protect the user. (If you do not do so already, focus on enchanting your weapon with a slow time aura when using it to block. This will greatly lessen the impact of the blow.) If you have allies but cannot fight well on your own, you will still be able to defend yourself with this enchantment. As for using magic directly as a method of offense, it is difficult but not impossible. Other weapons channel magic much better for offensive purposes, leaving a shield chronomancer essentially weaponless in this regard. This is a challenging method of casting, as there is no multiplier conduit to assist, but bare handed casting is a recognized style of chronomancy. Please consult the "Basics of Bare Handed Casting" section for further information. Page 317._

Homura's eyes widened slightly. _This is just what I wanted. I just didn't know it until now._ The pages turned in reverse now until the girl's fingers stopped the action when she saw _317_ at the bottom of the parchment.

 _Bare handed casting is a rarely-used method of chronomancy, as weapons are commonly available to aid in channeling magics. However, if such weapons are difficult to come by in your universe or you want to be prepared to fight without a weapon, this is a relevant style to learn._

 _First, accessing magic without a conduit. Start by using_ light _contact with a conduit while trying to use magic. This will lessen your dependence on the conduit. After producing results with this practice, try rubbing your hands on the conduit while calling for magic but without shaping the magic to a function, then let go of the conduit and attempt to shape the magic into a spell. If this form of practice is mastered, then you are ready to cast without a conduit. Focus the same as when you draw magic into your conduit to cast a spell, but now there will not be a target for the flow of magic. The magic will accumulate in your hands, ready to be shaped. This technique can also be generalized to magic users who are not chronomancers._

 _Once magic is called into your hands, it can be shaped. You can cast the typical manipulations (slowing, speeding, stopping, and reversing) in this way. Time can also be used offensively by focusing on speeding, but controlling it to be very localized and not focused on yourself. Then, by punching any target of interest or by throwing the magic (a more difficult application), the material will age instantaneously, likely weakening or damaging the structure significantly. We recommend not practicing this on any person – practice on unimportant inanimate objects or_ apply _on enemy persons. We again note that using speed magic is much easier in a melee application than in a projectile application. While it is common for a chronomancer to master punching within days or weeks of learning to focus the magic unarmed, some chronomancers remain unable to throw speed magic for their entire careers._

Homura transformed and began practicing as described. She unstrapped the shield and gently leaned it against her arm, then tried to stop time. After three tries, she succeeded, and let time flow normally again. _That's simple enough._ To challenge herself more, the Magical Girl next laid the shield down on her sheets and touched it with just her little finger, then once again concentrated on stopping time. It took a bit longer for her to be able to do so with less contact, a few dozen times. Once it worked, she looked down at her shield and noticed that it was already 5:30 P.M. Her stomach agreed, so she made supper and ate.

 _There's still nothing much to do. I should practice some more,_ thought Homura once she put the last clean dish away. _So now contact, call, release, cast._

Since she grew out of needing Mami's and Madoka's help with practicing, Akemi Homura had always been proud of her ability to use her magic properly. Now, she was starting to doubt that proficiency. After half an hour of practice, she still felt the magic dissipate as soon as she let go of the shield. _Maybe... do I need to pretend to grab the magic and hold it? I don't know if it works like an object, but I may as well try. Or I could look it up. Nah._

An hour later, she finally felt a glob of magic transfer from the shield into her hand. It felt right; natural. It was supposed to be there. Her magic source was obviously her soul gem, so her body _should_ be a better holder of it, yet it must be too ingrained in every Magical Girl that magic is used with a weapon. But as soon as she felt the glob, it was gone again, back into her soul gem.

Her next successful glob was only ten minutes later. This one remained in her grasp for a few seconds rather than a few instants, and it gave her a pleasant tingly feeling. But she was once again too distracted by the magic itself to actually do anything with it. So she reached for more magic, and successfully scooped some up on the next try. This time, she was able to ignore the feeling it gave and she shaped it into a time stop. However, because it was cast with a finite particle of magic rather than the typical constant outpouring of magic, the time stop ended on its own before she could even worry about how to resume time without the shield.

She continued practicing until she felt sleepiness overcome her. Unfortunately, she had only accomplished taking slightly larger globs of magic and had not learned to channel a flow through her hands, but it was a start.

Homura brushed her teeth and used the restroom, changed into pajamas, and hopped in bed. Her head hit the pillow with a smile plastered across it.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

(1) for which she came: Trailing prepositions are technically wrong, so sometimes I avoid them properly. Often it completely ruins the flow so I don't do so. This note sounds like I'm reviewing my own story for grammar XD

(2) Gyudel: Mentioned in chapters 2-4 already.

(3) Titles... OLD editions of holy books for some of the main world religions, then the other four don't exist. They're mine, and are more-or-less in progress... The first two are named for their main characters, the third is named for the event that covers most of the duration of it, and the fourth is basically one-shots of the characters in the afterlife, or whatever else I want to put in it. I didn't know what to put for books that seemed so old they must be extinct, so I figured "true stories" from a different universe would be appropriate.

(4) "Akemi Homura, adept of time magic and eighth-grade student": Yes, you heard right. Xyzantylzethyrioses is a pseudo-omniscient human; prophet, warrior, and keeper of knowledge. The original character is the immortal bodyguard (well, if he dies he gets a new life as an adult that forgot about the old ones) of the Gyudel family. He is most certainly even-duct-tape-can't-fix-it-broken-ly OP, but with his knowledge he knows restraint and perfect moral judgment, plus he has quite finite combat abilities and diplomatic prowess. He doesn't disclose undiscovered secrets to anyone unless the sharing of that knowledge would quite literally prevent the destruction of the universe. Also... This Zeth is not the exact same as my original. In addition, he will barely be involved so that his existence is even safer. I just wanted an interesting shopkeeper, and only added him into this story because it felt like a decent idea to me.

(5) Preemptive note. If you think of anything to add to this made-up book, don't hesitate to let me know. I'll strongly consider any suggestions, as long as they're in a section relevant to Homura. I may edit this chapter to add in suggestions, although some may need to be added in later reading sessions. Don't worry if you don't like this; she'll only occasionally look at the book on-screen.

Just looking at the focuses of my chapters so far, it sure seems like the creative juices are doing something. Chapter 1 is a plot twist on canon events, Chapter 2 is depressing, Chapter 3 is a fight scene, Chapter 4 is meeting people, and now Chapter 5 is acquiring information. Might be bouncing all over the place, but hopefully that keeps things interesting.

 **Chapter Synopsis.** Homura has thoughts of slowing down a bit, after being reminded of home, family, and the associated warm feeling after she visited the Gyudels last chapter. She has breakfast and goes out for some necessary, but somewhat relaxing, shopping. I can't pretend to want to write about one person shopping for random junk when nothing important happens during that period, but then she enters an atypical bookstore, where she meets the strangest storekeeper in the world and gets some promising free samples.

Next update: Pfft, how should I know? I'd like to update every other week, but you should know better than to trust my predictions about my use of free time.


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